Deckard Apartment Lamps

[andy]

Mine is black as well.

Andy

[bwade wanna]

Hate to burst everyone's bubble, because I initially made the same mistake:

There is no way in heck that the Dazor lamp in Blade Runner is the table-top model. The post is just not tall enough to stand so high over the piano.

It therefore MUST be the floor lamp model, located behind the grand piano:



If someone can find a shot of the space below or behind the piano, this can be 100% verified.

The floor models are more scarse, but they do pop up on eBay now and then.

And judging from the reflections off the paint in the HD DVD, I'm pretty certain it's the bronze-colored one, like the lamp in the bottom middle & right photos.

They're all beauties, though!

Darren

[jameth]

I think you are right on the floor model but I still love my table top model.

I watched it again tonight and I agree that it's the standard color but it sure looks black if you don't look close.

[joberg]

Well, slap me hard and call me Wanda It seems that bwade wanna discovered something that I didn't imagine. That it's not a table lamp on top of the piano, but a floor model. Time to re-think my purchase list

[bwade wanna]

You're very welcome, Wanda!

[Mr Webber]

Great find bwade, ive never seen one before, a truely smokin lamp.
Im not totally convinced its the one used in the film yet though. All they had to do is place a table lamp on some books etc,
as was done with other items on set, to get the lamp on its right spot.

If someone knows the dimensions of the piano it may help determine the size used. The lamp seems to be near the middle
of the piano so any measurement of depth could be useful.

With the colour, if you take a look at any pictures of props, costumes from the movie in normal lighting, they nearly look completely
different from the screen, blue is grey, orange is red, yellow is white etc
so were all in the same boat there.
If it is later confirmed that your lamp is the one and not the table lamp,
nice work, a major find indeed, if not, i still want one anyway.
_________________
Formerly offworld66

[andy]

I went back and took a look at some of those scenes and it looks to me like the pole would have to go through the piano. I am more likely to think it was just put on something as a base on top of the piano.

Even if it were the floor lamp version it would be too short. You can see in the picture of it next to the chair it is barely 4 feet tall. I have had one of those chairs (the one on the left) before, they aren't very tall (less than 3ft). The top of the lamp to someone sitting next to it would be eye level high. In the film it is about a foot taller.

Andy

[bwade wanna]

Andy - why would the lamp be hoisted onto a pile of books with the saucer lowered all the way down to the base, when you can achieve the same height without any books by elevating the saucer to the top of the post? It makes no sense...

Also, try to see it spatially:



And that's a wrap!

Darren

[joberg]

Pretty convincing Darren! I mean, they could`ve put the floor lamp onto some kind of platform to achieve the look and hight they wanted.

[andy]

Knowing the size of the lamp (having one myself), the angle of the piano in several shots, the pole would be going almost down the center of the front of the piano. The lamp is way too small to reach over several feet to the center of the front of the piano from the far side. It is way too large in your diagram. It extends only one foot from center of shade to pole. And is over the top front of the sheet music which is close to the center of the piano. Also even a baby grand piano is over 3 foot tall and would leave less than a foot of lamp above it. It would also have to be on a platformed and lowered a foot, as you they would never do with the table version. Also, in the photos you put up above you can see the lamp over the top, and in front of the sheet music, but in your aerial diagram it would be to the left and behind it.

Chances are they originally wanted to use the lamps it was intended with the diffuser side down, but then to get the more dramatic lighting they twisted the lamp and lowered it to get the more direct lighting that is used throughout the film. Also the pole in the background adds visual interest and breaks up what would be almost a flat line across the top of the piano set. Something a professional photographer would have done instinctively.

Andy

[bwade wanna]

I personally think you're reaching, Andy, but hey - debating the finer points of the film are what this forum is all about!

Here are 2 shots of the piano from additional angles:



To me it's pretty obvious from the perspective that the lamp post is way off to the left side of the piano. Look how close it is to the Buddha head - you can see the reflection of the top knot in the underside of the saucer section. And the Buddha head is more or less right up against the wall.

But you are correct - the average height of a grand piano is 36" - 39", and the width, determined by the kyeboard, is around 4 & 1/2 feet. My diagram and superimposed images are obviously not to scale, so I wouldn't use those as "evidence" to support your opinion or discredit mine. I only meant to demonstrate the location of the floor lamp with respect to the piano.

In fact, the height of the Dazor UFO floor lamp is 46", so were it to be standing on the floor, you would be correct - it wouldn't tower so high over the piano. Then again, as Joberg posted, it could have been propped on a pile of books or some other platform to increase its overall height (your own argument to explain the elevated post) - it would make more sense to me to do so on the floor than on the piano.

But unless someone can dig up a shot of the piano from the rear, this will remain an unsolved mystery!

Darren

[jameth]

ALL RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I confess.

It was me. I drilled a large hole through the grand piano with the candlestick. I placed the floor model into the whole before I went to the kitchen through the secret passage. I then crawled under the piano and held it up off the floor along with Colonel Mustard while they shot the scene.

Are you happy????????? You have broken me.

[andy]

The reflection I see in the lamp is of the edge of the sheet music which it is just above. You can also see the additional photos to the left of the sheet music showing that it is almost center of the piano as it would normally be. Thus making it about 2 feet from the side of the piano. That lamp would have to "stretch" a lot to reach from the side and be above the sheet music. I will search to see if I can find better pictures to illustrate it. Also you can tell there is a platform of some sort right behind the sheet music, because we can see the Buddha heads peaking over the top of it. It would be about the right height and placement for the lamp to be where it is if it is the table top version.

Andy

[joberg]

The plot thickens! Why oh why the DP/set decorator would have put a table lamp on some kind of a platform (books, stuff, knick-knack...take your pick) and then lower said lamp so you could see the pole sticking out in the shot? Sure, it makes the shot for an interesting comp, but still; the lamp is high enough as it is to lit the music sheet.
I don't think that they use the platform at the left of the piano to put the lamp there: the perspective would not jive with the shots/pics we have (my 2 cents).

[andy]

If you look closely in this pic...



...You can see said platform as well as the little Buddha heads on it. Like I said before they probably first had it with the diffuser down, but later changed it to make the harsher direct lighting with it turned around and closer to the detail, and piano. It would have been easier than rearranging the whole set, and it also broke up the lines on the piano, and thus good composition. I also found some other pics showing that the dazor is at least in the center of the piano. I will post those later.

I can only speculate some of their motives with confidence because I have literally read every book about the making of this movie, as well as many other behind the scenes books of other movies, so I have at least a slight insight to the thinking into making this film, and shot set up. I very well could be wrong still, but no matter how hard I try to see the standing lamp off to the side of the piano, I have to cheat spacial dimensions in order for it to work, and my artistic and mechanical background screams "No way" to me.

Andy

[andy]

Photo one is showing the layout of the piano size and the sheet music at the center of the piano, two feet from side of piano. The lamp can not be seen from the side of the piano, but since you can't see it at all, I am only using the picture for the pianos layout and size. Also with the picture above it looks like the leg of the piano is against the wall, meaning that the large Buddha head is actually on the piano, which it looks like it could be here as well.


Photo two is showing that the lamp is centered above the sheet music and that is what is reflected in the shade.


Last picture showing the picture from above larger, with red arrow pointing to platform with little Buddha heads also on it.


I know it is hard to unsee something once you see it, but that is why I looked for as many angles as I could to be sure.

Andy

[bwade wanna]

Andy, you make a compelling counter-argument, but your scenario still strikes me as funky and over-thought. If the piano-top platform version is correct, that would mean that the lamp base is not even a half inch below the top edge of the sheet music, and the camera angle would have to be composed specifically to avoid seeing the base in the shot from the top or from the side. It just makes no sense to me that they would set up the lamp the way you suggest just to create new camera angle constraints...

Then again, there's a mysterious black shadow just behind the sheet music stand, to the left of the framed photo, & below the lamp, so who the heck knows... However, those 2 little buddhas would have to be literally where the sloped base is, or directly behind it. I would love to see alternative shots of the piano set-up.

Darren

[andy]

From the size and relationship to the pole I would have to say the small Buddha heads are behind it. The radius of the base is only 4 inches which jives perfectly with the pictures in my opinion. In the second picture you can see it is about 6 inches behind the sheet music. The base is quite small in relation to the rest of the lamp. I would say it is about 1 1/2 inches below the top of the sheet music and would be hidden naturally. Also being dark it would just blend in. You can not make the assumption thast the platform is square with the sheet music. If it is turned at all it would look higher or lower with the changing angle of the side.

Andy

[bwade wanna]

I meant the top of the lamp base would be just below the edge of the sheet music, since that's approximately what the height of the tapered gold ring at the base of the post is, so we're basically saying the same thing.

[andy]